According to deputy chairperson of the Ukrainian Central Election Commission, Zhanna Usenko-Chernaya, both Timoshenko’s and Lutsenko’s curricula vitae have information about “politically-motivated records of conviction.” The Central Election Commission is not authorized to give assessment of criminal record but “there are no legal grounds to register Yulia Timoshenko and Yuri Lutsenko as parliament candidates,” she said. Both politicians are serving prison terms but are among the top five on the party list of the united opposition.

Ukraine’s Minister of Justice Alexander Lavrinovich said on Wednesday that people who are serving their terms are not allowed to run for parliament seats. “A citizen with outstanding convictions may not run for a parliament seat. This is fixed in the Ukrainian constitution and no law can change it,” he stressed.